Travel briefs: NYC's bike-sharing program delayed

The "Citi Bike" program had been expected to be launched by the end of July.

The Department of Transportation says it is still working on the launch plan and will update the public as soon as it finalizes all the details.

The program is expected to have 10,000 bikes at 600 docking stations around the city by next year.

People would pay a $95 annual fee to ride the blue, 3-speed bikes.

Short-term users, including tourists, would be able to sign up too.

The program is being sponsored by Citigroup.

Maine wildlife park sees more visitors

GRAY, Maine — A state-run wildlife park in Maine that's home to 30 different species is seeing a 20 percent increase in attendance compared with last year.

Officials say that so far this year more than 45,000 people have visited the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray, which serves as a permanent home for animals that can't survive in the wild, many of which were brought to the park injured, orphaned or after being illegally kept as pets.

The park is home to 30 bald eagles, hawks and owls, black bears, bobcats, Canada lynx and deer. There's also a pair of moose.

New to the park this year is the recently opened 3,500-square-foot mountain lion exhibit, home to a male and female mountain lion.

Old depot turned into new museum

VICKSBURG, Miss. — Vicksburg is celebrating the opening of the Old Depot Museum.

It's housed in the former Yazoo and Mississippi River Valley Railroad Depot. The grand opening was last weekend.

The museum in downtown Vicksburg features a huge collection of ship models and riverboat models.

"We have an exhibit of tow boats and river boat models. We have a miniature layout of the Vicksburg Battle Field. ... We have U.S. naval vessels named for people and places in Mississippi. There are over a hundred of them and we have 50 of them represented. We hope it will draw some people in. We hope it will become a star attraction for Vicksburg," said Old Depot Museum Director Lamar Roberts.

Shrek might find home New Jersey

The Hollywood studio that created the green ogre and the wisecracking zoo animals of "Madagascar" announced Wednesday it had agreed to license its characters, storytelling and technology for a theme park at a long-stalled and vacant megamall in the Meadowlands.

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, in a joint statement with the mall developer, said the indoor theme park 10 miles west of New York City would create "a unique and innovative family entertainment experience."

The company says at this time its only involvement will be licensing the rights to its characters and storytelling. The American Dream mall in East Rutherford would be the first wholly themed DreamWorks park. Dreamworld, a theme park in Australia, features some DreamWorks characters but not exclusively.

The studio was looking for a U.S. presence and thought the mall site near New York would be a good fit, one that could become an international tourist attraction, a DreamWorks spokesman said. The company previously had plans for a theme park in Dubai, but that project fell through.

Mall developer Triple Five, of Alberta, Canada, said it hoped to open the mall and theme park in 2014 but was unlikely to do so in time for the Super Bowl, being held at nearby MetLife Stadium.

Spokesman Alan Marcus said financing and design work remain to be completed.

Plans for the mall, along the New Jersey Turnpike, include an indoor ice rink, ski and snowboard park, water park, movie theaters, restaurants, retail stores and a live performing arts theater.

The project has been a white elephant; originally named Xanadu, it was scheduled to open in 2007 but remains vacant and unfinished, with a multicolored and multipatterned exterior that Gov. Chris Christie has said made it one of America's ugliest buildings.

Triple Five, which owns Mall of America near Minneapolis, took over the New Jersey project in 2010. Marcus said developers are confident the entertainment additions and other planned changes will make it successful.